Speed of improvement in cancer survival rates ‘slowing', say experts
A national cancer plan was 'essential' to 'bring cancer survival trends back towards the best in the world', researchers said.
The study, led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and funded by Cancer Research UK, analysed long-term trends in the cancer survival index (CSI) for adults across England and Wales from 1971 to 2018.
Using records from the National Disease Registration Service for England and the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit, experts estimated net survival for up to 10 years after diagnosis for around 10.8 million people.
They found that in 2018, the CSI for all cancers combined a decade after diagnosis was 49.8%, higher than the CSI at one year for those diagnosed in 1971/72.
Researchers hailed the figure as 'remarkable', but warned that the 'speed of improvement in survival has slowed down'.
In the five years from 2000/01 to 2005/06, the 10-year CSI rose by 4%, from 41.2% to 45.2%.
But between 2010/11 and 2015/16, the rise was 1.4%, from 47.9% to 49.3%.
There were also major gaps in survival when it came to different cancer types.
For example, 10-year survival for testicular cancer was 97%, compared with 4.3% for pancreatic cancer.
Screening programmes had bolstered survival rates for cancers in the breast, bowel and cervix, according to Cancer Research UK.
But survival for other types, such as stomach, lung and brain cancer, had increased by only a small amount in the past 50 years.
Writing in the Lancet Regional Health – Europe, researchers warned this slowdown for individual cancers implied a 'system-wide challenge'.
Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: 'Thanks to research, most patients today are far more likely to survive their cancer than at any point in the past.
'But the reality is that this progress is slowing – and for some cancers, it never got going in the first place.'
The Government launched a call for evidence to help shape a national cancer plan in February.
The blueprint aims to outline actions to transform how the disease is treated in a bid to reduce deaths.
Ms Mitchell said: 'The upcoming National Cancer Plan for England must include commitments to spot more cancers earlier, as well as backing research into new treatments so that each patient, regardless of their diagnosis, can hope for more moments with the people they love.'
Michel Coleman, a professor of epidemiology and statistics at LSHTM, said: 'Since I began my career in cancer research, I've seen substantial increases in survival for most types of cancer.
'Our understanding of cancer biology has expanded, effective screening programmes have been introduced, and new treatments have been developed. Allowing this trend to stall will have devastating consequences.
'This study was only possible because of data on millions of patients from cancer registries in England and Wales.
'It's vital that the Government provides the political and financial support to ensure we maintain this crucial data. Without these, the Government will be flying blind on cancer control.
'The National Cancer Plan is a chance to improve NHS cancer pathways and reap the benefits of new research – the Government must take it.'
Cancer Research UK is calling for the national cancer plan to slash waiting times for diagnosis and treatment, saying some patients face unacceptable delays.
The plan should also improve early diagnosis of cancer, with plans to boost participation in existing screening programmes and a commitment to rolling out lung cancer screening fully in England by 2029.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'We are prioritising cancer care as we turn around more than a decade of neglect of our NHS.
'We're already seeing progress, with 95,000 more people having cancer diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days between July 2024 and May 2025, compared to the same period the previous year.
'The National Cancer Plan will set out how we will improve survival rates further and address the variation between different cancer types.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
2 days ago
- Daily Record
‘Zombie cancer cells' in kids can evade chemo but scientists may have found solution
These cancer cells can lie dormant in children, before reactivating later and causing the patient to relapse. Scientists may have found a way to beat 'zombie cancer cells' - a type of cell that can survive chemotherapy. These evasive cells are more common in children, and are a major reason that cancer is the leading cause of disease-related death in childhood. There are around 250 cancer deaths in children in the UK every year, that's around five every week, according to Cancer Research UK's data from 2017-2019. Brain tumours are one of the most common causes of cancer death in children, but the new scientific findings aim to tackle this. Cancer poses a larger mortality risk to children with a type of gene called oncogenes, which are found inside the DNA of tumour cells. These cancer cells can lie dormant in the body after chemotherapy treatment while other cancer cells are killed. But they can then reactivate years later, causing the cancer to come back. An international team of scientists published findings on August 7 in Cancer Discovery, which examined why a common form of pediatric nerve cell cancer called neuroblastoma is often treated successfully with chemotherapy, but prone to relapse in several years. They discovered that tumour cells with fewer copies of the MYCNoncogene enter a zombie-like state known as senescence, where they persist but no longer divide to make new cells. These 'zombie cells' are unaffected by chemotherapy and can be reactivated a year or two later, triggering the cancer to relapse. But the researchers may be on the way to finding a solution to killing these durable cancer cells, after finding a way to target them in mice. The researchers found that combining standard chemotherapy with another secondary therapy which is able to target senescent cancer cells led to dramatically improved outcomes in tests on mouse models of neuroblastoma. Lukas Chavez, PhD, is an associate professor in the Cancer Genome and Epigenetics Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys, and co-author of the study. Chavez said: "We have shown that these ecDNAs [which cause zombie cells] are much more abundant in solid pediatric tumours than we previously thought. 'And we have also shown that they are associated with very poor outcomes." However, the scientist added that their findings hold potential to dramatically increase the outcomes for human child patients, though more research is needed. Chavez continued: "By integrating genomic analyses of tumour DNA with hypothesis-driven functional experiments and high-throughput drug screening, we aim to discover new drugs and drug combinations that halt tumour growth by eliminating these oncogenic DNA circles. 'Ultimately, our goal is to translate these scientific advances into more effective therapies and lasting cures for children with brain cancer.' Ashley Hui, a graduate student in Chavez's lab, contributed to this study by showing that zombie cells with low amounts of ecDNA carrying MYCN [an oncogene] can also be observed in medulloblastoma, the most common brain tumour type in children. While more research is required, the scientists are hopeful their findings will lead to more effective cancer treatment for children. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
Calorie labels rarely influence choice, Reading Uni survey finds
Calorie labels on takeaway menus are unlikely to encourage people to choose healthier options, a survey has from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), University of Reading and University of Exeter surveyed 1,040 takeaway eaters about their found seven in 10 people did not notice calorie labels on online menus, and 71% of those who did said it did not influence their food co-author Dr Cherry Law, a food economist at the University of Reading, said it proved that calorie information alone was "not enough" to improve people's eating habits. As part of a government strategy to encourage healthier eating, calorie labelling was mandated from April 2022 for large out of home businesses across research, which was published in BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health, surveyed 1,040 adults in England who had reported buying takeaways at least once in the past 12 with restrictive dietary requirements, such as vegetarian or vegan, were excluded from the survey. 'Systemic issues' It found that taste and price were ranked the most important factors when deciding which takeaway to order, while healthiness and carbon footprint were ranked as least 50% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that alternative interventions, such as traffic light labels and more healthy alternatives on the menus, would encourage them to make a healthier author Associate Professor Laura Cornelsen said the food industry needed to offer affordable meals that met nutrition guidelines."The focus should be on tackling systemic issues, like making it simpler and more affordable to purchase healthier options, rather than adding even more pressure to consumers and families to change their choices," she said. You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Sky News
3 days ago
- Sky News
Cancer survival rates rise substantially but 'longer waits' hit progress for more deadly types of the disease, say researchers
The chance of surviving cancer for 10 years after diagnosis has increased by more than 24% in England and Wales over nearly five decades, but researchers say progress has slowed partly because of longer waiting times. A study, led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), suggests survival rates between the most and least deadly types of the disease are wider than ever before. Researchers examined long-term cancer trends for adults across England and Wales over 48 years, from 1971 to 2018. They found the cancer survival index (CSI) - the percentage surviving 10 years after diagnosis - was 49.8% for all cancers in 2018. That compares with just 23.7% in 1971. But experts say the speed of improvement has slowed down and "is likely to be at least partly explained by longer waits for diagnosis and treatment," according to the report authors. 1:56 The study, funded by Cancer Research UK and published in the Lancet, shows the 10-year CSI between 2000/01 to 2005/06 rose by 4%. But examining a more recent period, between 2010/11 and 2015/16, the increase was just 1.4%. There were also major gaps in survival when it came to different cancer types. The 10-year survival for testicular cancer was 97%, compared with 4.3% for pancreatic cancer. Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: "Thanks to research, most patients today are far more likely to survive their cancer than at any point in the past. "But the reality is that this progress is slowing - and for some cancers, it never got going in the first place." Screening programmes have significantly increased survival rates, including for breast cancer, where 76.6% now survive 10 years or more, along with bowel (53.9%) and cervix (63.5%), according to the most recent figures from Cancer Research UK. But survival rates for other types, like stomach cancer (16.1%), lung (10%) and brain (19.2%), have increased by only a small amount in the past few decades. 0:58 Michel Coleman, professor of epidemiology and statistics at LSHTM, said he had seen "substantial increases" in survival rates for most types of cancer, but "allowing this trend to stall will have devastating consequences". "It's vital that the government provides the political and financial support to ensure we maintain this crucial data. Without these, the government will be flying blind on cancer control. "The National Cancer Plan is a chance to improve NHS cancer pathways and reap the benefits of new research - the Government must take it," Prof Coleman said. Cancer Research UK is calling for the national cancer plan to slash waiting times for diagnosis and treatment, saying some patients face unacceptable delays. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "We are prioritising cancer care as we turn around more than a decade of neglect of our NHS. "We're already seeing progress, with 95,000 more people having cancer diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days between July 2024 and May 2025, compared to the same period the previous year.
